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The State of State Preemption: Stalled – But Moving In More Competitive Direction
As the federal government makes unprecedented investments to expand high-speed access to the Internet, unbeknownst to most outside the broadband industry is that nearly a third of the states in the U.S. have preemption laws in place that either prevent or restrict local municipalities from building and operating publicly-owned, locally-controlled networks.
Currently, there are 16 states across the U.S. (listed below) with these monopoly-protecting, anti-competition preemption laws in place.
These states maintain these laws, despite the fact that wherever municipal broadband networks or other forms of community-owned networks operate, the service they deliver residents and businesses almost always offers faster connection speeds, more reliable service, and lower prices.
In numerous cases, municipal broadband networks are able to provide low-cost or free service to low-income households even in the absence of the now expired federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). And for several years in a row now, municipal networks consistently rank higher in terms of consumer satisfaction and performance in comparison to the big monopoly Internet service providers, as PCMag and Consumer Reports have documented time and time again.
Nevertheless, these preemption laws remain in 16 states, enacted at the behest of Big Cable and Telecom lobbyists, many of whom have ghost written the statutes, in an effort to protect ISP monopolies from competition.
The Infrastructure Law Was Supposed to Move the Preemption Needle But …
Mapping the Future: How Community Networks Are Expanding Broadband - Episode 615 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast
In this episode of the podcast, Chris and Sean discuss various broadband initiatives and community networks across the United States. The conversation kicks off with updates on California’s Fiber Fund Account and the inclusion of Tribal Communities in broadband projects.
They both highlight the Paul Bunyan Cooperative’s innovative approach to broadband, including Capital Credit distributions to its members and its impact on local communities. They also explore the potential challenges of spending remaining Federal Rescue Plan Funds before key deadlines and the importance of investing in broadband infrastructure.
Finally, the episode delves into Harrison County’s partnership with Etex Communications and the release of ILSR’s updated Community Networks Map, which tracks municipal and cooperative broadband projects nationwide. This episode provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of community broadband and the exciting possibilities it offers.
This show is 34 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license
Paul Bunyan Communications Payout To Members Is Not A Tall Tale
The reasons why municipalities and cooperatives build community-owned broadband networks are numerous, often fueled by years of frustration with the spotty, expensive service offered by the big monopoly incumbents.
In northern Minnesota earlier this month, we came across yet another example of why an increasing number of localities are finding publicly-owned, locally-controlled telecommunication infrastructure so appealing: the “profits” don’t get funneled into the pockets of distant shareholders but are instead reinvested back into the local economy.
In the case of Paul Bunyan Communications, the “profits” are shared with its members.
Earlier this month, the Bemidji-based telephone cooperative – which serves 30,000 members spread across its 6,000-square-mile service area – announced it is returning over $3 million to its members this year.
Capital Credit Retirements
As the cooperative explained in a recent press release:
“Paul Bunyan Communications is a not-for-profit company that strives to provide the highest quality service at the most affordable rates. As a cooperative, membership in Paul Bunyan Communications includes the opportunity to share in the financial success of the company.”
MN BEAD Labor Requirements: More Problems Than Solutions? - Episode 602 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast
In this episode of the podcast, Chris is joined by Brent Christensen of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Jill Huffman of Spring Grove Communications and MiBroadband to discuss the complexities of labor requirements impacting broadband projects in Minnesota. The discussion centers around the implications of prevailing wage laws and their administrative burdens on small broadband providers.
They highlight the challenges faced by local broadband providers, especially cooperatives, in complying with wage classifications that often do not align with telecommunications jobs. Brent and Jill share insights into how these regulations can hinder the progress of broadband expansion, particularly in rural areas. They also discuss the difficulties in managing federal grants that come with stringent labor requirements and the impact on the financial feasibility of extending broadband services.
The episode underscores the importance of flexible, well-informed legislative approaches that support sustainable broadband deployment without overwhelming smaller providers.
This show is 27 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Minnesota Strikes Down Preemption Laws Blocking Municipal Broadband
Community broadband advocates have scored a major victory in Minnesota as state lawmakers there have repealed the state’s preemption laws that prevented cities and towns in the Land of 10,000 Lakes from providing municipal broadband services.
The new legislation, signed into law yesterday by Gov. Tim Walz, took aim at two statutes that sought to protect large monopoly telecommunications providers from competition.
New Law Unwinds Antiquated Statutes
One antiquated law that had been on the books for over a century (Minn. Stat. Ann. § 237.19) allowed municipalities in Minnesota to buy or construct “telephone exchanges” only if they secured a supermajority vote in a local referendum election. Though intended to regulate telephone service, the way the law had been interpreted after the invention of the Internet was to lump broadband in with telephone service thereby imposing that super-majority threshold to the building of broadband networks.
Another law (Minn. Stat. Ann. § 429.021(19)) gave municipalities the express authority to “improve, construct, extend, and maintain facilities for Internet access” but only if a private provider was not offering service in that municipality.
But this week, with a single omnibus bill (SF 4097), those old preemption laws were repealed by state legislators and signed into law by the Gov. Walz yesterday, officially paving the way for any municipality in the state to have the option of building networks to offer municipal broadband service or partner for the same.
Untangling BEAD, Minnesota Repeals Preemption Law, and Open Access is Hard | Episode 95 of the Connect This! Show
Join us Friday, May 24th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell and Travis Carter will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) along with special guests Alexis Schrubbe (University of Chicago) and Brian Snider. They'll talk about how the devil's in the details with the BEAD program, movement in California surrounding digital discrimination, and Minnesota repealing its state preemption law.
Email us at broadband@communitynets.org with feedback and ideas for the show.
Subscribe to the show using this feed or find it on the Connect This! page, and watch on LinkedIn, on YouTube Live, on Facebook live, or below.
Upcoming Tribal Broadband Webinar on Network Sovereignty and Current Opportunities
With Tribal broadband advocates working to establish better Internet connectivity across Indian Country as the NTIA directs unprecedented federal investments to expand broadband infrastructure, the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) will lead a timely virtual webinar on tribal broadband next week.
“Nuts, Bolts, and Cables: Opportunities in Tribal Broadband” is being hosted by the CICD, headquartered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University.
Slated for October 16th from 2:00-3:30 CT, the webinar will bring together researchers, advocates, network operators, and federal policymakers for a conversation about the challenges and opportunities for Native Nations working to improve Internet access and broadband infrastructure.
The third webinar in a series on "Cultivating Native Economies in the 21st Century," next week’s session will give participants the chance to hear from panelists and presenters with a wealth of expertise in Tribal broadband. Dr. Traci Morris (Chickasaw) and Geoff Blackwell (Muscogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Omaha), leading experts in tribal broadband policy, will speak on a panel about current opportunities in the field.
Wading Through Federal Funding Streams - Episode 572 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast
This week on the podcast, Christopher speaks with Brent Christensen, President and CEO of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA). The MTA is a trade association that currently represents 41 holding company members operating over 70 companies across the state, including cooperatively-owned, family-owned, and publicly-traded Internet Service Providers. Most are rural broadband providers.
Chris and Brent dive into a discussion about the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Model (Enhanced A-CAM), which is focused more on smaller providers than the Connect America Fund (CAF), and how so many smaller providers are surpassing the 25/3 Mbps speed requirement associated with that program by building fiber-to-the-home networks that will serve their subscribers long into the future. The two discuss the challenges and complications of the various federal broadband moneys coming into Minnesota, how they interact with one another, and how these collective funding opportunities might be efficiently leveraged to connect the most Minnesotans to high-quality broadband.
This show is 32 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.
Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Ini Augustine on Mutual Aid and Community Connectivity - Building for Digital Equity Podcast Episode 11
Ini Augustine is a technologist who was ready to organize with her community to improve access to computers and Internet access when the pandemic hit and many low-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis and Saint Paul were cut off from education and other resources. More recently, she organized the Black Broadband Summit and the Family Broadband Coalition. We talk about her work and the promise and challenge of forming a cooperative to bring better Internet access to people who have been abandoned by traditional business models.
We also talk about whether kids in North Minneapolis would be in better shape today than they were in 2020 if they suddenly were cut off from school again. And who should be taking responsibility to make sure that answer is yes?
Her work has been featured in Minnesota Public Radio as well as Sahan Journal. Follow their progress on Instagram as well - Project Nandi.
This show is 15 minutes long and can be played on this page or using the podcast app of your choice with this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes here or see other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.
Thanks to Joseph McDade for the music. The song is On the Verge and is used per his Free-Use terms.
Lessons from a Rural County - Episode 544 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast
This week on the show, Christopher is joined by Senior Researcher Ry Marcattilio for a conversation about on-the-ground work in a rural county in Minnesota. After joining a listening session with local elected officials, the district representative, and the broadband action team, Christopher and Ry hop in the studio to reflect on what they heard. From grant requests that have gotten short-circuited by a local WISP with a history of acting against the public interest, to mapping woes, to resort towns frustrated by underinvestment and fragile telecommunications infrastructure, there are a lot of lessons which are applicable to rural counties facing similar problems all over the country.
This show is 29 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.
Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.